science

Scotomization

Scotomization is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Scotomization rather than just read about it. In short: Scotomization is a psychological term for the mental blocking of unwanted perceptions, analogous to the visual blindness of an actual scotoma. Controversies This term initially was used by Charcot in connection with hysteria.

Key takeaways

Scotomization belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Scotomization to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Scotomization from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Scotomization is a psychological term for the mental blocking of unwanted perceptions, analogous to the visual blindness of an actual scotoma.

Controversies This term initially was used by Charcot in connection with hysteria.

Psychoanalysis Reviving in the 1920s this term, Rene Laforgue and Edouard Pichon introduced the idea of scotomization into psychoanalysis – a move initially welcomed by Freud in 1926 as a useful description of the hysterical avoidance of distressing perceptions. The following year, however, he attacked the term for suggesting that the perception was wholly blotted out (as with a retina's blind spot), whereas his clinical experience showed that on the contrary intense psychic measures had to be taken to keep the unwanted perception out of consciousness. A debate followed between Freud and Laforgue, further illuminated by Pichon's 1928 article on 'The Psychological Significance of Negation in French', where he argued that "The French language expresses the desire for scotomisation through the forclusif."

Lacan Decades later in the 1950s, the question of scotomization re-emerged in a phenomological context under the influence of Jacques Lacan. Lacan used scotomization to represent the ego's relationship to the unconscious – speaking of "everything that the ego, neglects, scotomizes, misconstrues in...reality" – as well as to challenge Sartre's concept of the gaze. Most significantly of all, however, he developed it into his influential update of Pichon's concept of foreclosure, thus endowing that idea with a conflation of visual and verbal elements.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Scotomization

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Scotomization claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Scotomization before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Scotomization ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Scotomization

In research: Scotomization appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Scotomization in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Scotomization is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abnormal psychology, Defence mechanisms, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Scotomization outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Scotomization in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Scotomization means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Scotomization out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Scotomization in simple terms?

Scotomization is a psychological term for the mental blocking of unwanted perceptions, analogous to the visual blindness of an actual scotoma. Controversies This term initially was used by Charcot in connection with hysteria.

Why does Scotomization matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Scotomization?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Scotomization.